Mi Heng ( 173198),
courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...
Zhengping, was an ancient Chinese writer and musician who lived in the late
Eastern Han dynasty. He is best known for his
''fu'' rhapsody "''Fu'' on the Parrot", which is his only work that has survived to modern times.
Life
Mi Heng was born around 173 in Ban County (),
Pingyuan Commandery
Pingyuan Commandery ( zh, 平原郡) was a historical commandery of China, existing from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty. It was centered around present-day northwestern Shandong province.
The commandery was carved out of the Jibei Kingdom during Em ...
(), which is in present-day
Shanghe County
Shanghe County () is under the administration of Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, People's Republic of China.
The population was in 1999.
Administrative divisions
As 2012, this county is divided to 2 subdistricts, 5 towns and 5 townsh ...
,
Shandong. In the early 190s, Mi Heng, like many others, fled northern China to escape the chaos that broke out towards the
end of the Han dynasty. He settled in
Jing Province (covering present-day
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
and
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
) and joined the staff of its Governor,
Liu Biao
Liu Biao () () (151 – September 208), courtesy name Jingsheng, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He is best known for serving as the Governor of Jing Province (coveri ...
. Around 196, Mi Heng moved north to join the imperial court that the warlord
Cao Cao had established in Xu (許; present-day
Xuchang
Xuchang (; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pi ...
,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
). Mi Heng was friendly with the prominent scholar
Kong Rong, who wrote a memorial recommending him for imperial service and submitted it to
Emperor Xian
Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Liu Xie was a so ...
, who was then mainly a puppet ruler under Cao Cao's control. Mi Heng returned to Jing Province in 197, where he stayed until his death a year or two later.
Although Mi Heng was known as a gifted poet and talented writer, he was prone to erratic behaviour, offensive jokes, and an arrogant attitude that made him difficult to socialise with, and even caused some to question his sanity.
Upon arriving in Xu around 196, Kong Rong spoke highly of Mi Heng to Cao Cao, who summoned him for an audience. Mi Heng, however, had a low opinion of Cao Cao, and refused to attend. Cao Cao was outraged by Mi Heng's refusal, but refrained from punishing Mi due to his reputation as a talent. Mi Heng was known as a talented drummer, so Cao Cao invited him to perform with several other drummers at a banquet. Cao Cao provided special garments for the drummers to wear, but Mi Heng refused to wear the provided clothing and wore his own clothes when he performed in front of Cao Cao and the other high-ranking guests. When an attendant scolded him for not dressing appropriately, Mi slowly stripped, stood naked in front of Cao Cao and the other guests for a few moments, and then slowly put on the drummers' garments and continued performing without showing any embarrassment. Kong Rong arranged a second meeting between Mi Heng and Cao Cao, but Mi turned out to be as equally as offensive as he was at the first meeting, so Cao Cao decided to send him back to Liu Biao.
Among Liu Biao's subordinates, Mi Heng was highly respected for his literary talents. However, he also criticised Liu Biao for being indecisive and offended most of Liu's other attendants with his arrogant attitude. Liu Biao tolerated him for a year before sending him to
Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; around present-day
Xinzhou District, Wuhan
Xinzhou () is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China, covering part of the city's northeastern suburbs and situated on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River. It is also the ea ...
,
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
) to serve its Administrator,
Huang Zu. Huang Zu's son, Huang Yi (), greatly admired Mi Heng. Huang Zu himself was also initially impressed by Mi Heng's intelligence and talent. However, Mi Heng got into trouble when he insulted Huang Zu in front of all of his officers at a banquet. Huang Zu ordered Mi Heng's execution, which was quickly carried out by a senior clerk who hated Mi Heng.
Works
A library catalogue from the
Liang dynasty
The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...
recorded that a volume of Mi Heng's collected works existed in two rolls (''juan''), but this collection was already lost by the early
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(early 7th century). Mi Heng's only surviving work is his "''Fu'' on the Parrot" (''Yingwu fu'' 鸚鵡賦), probably written in 198, which was collected and preserved in the
''Selections of Refined Literature'' (''Wen xuan'' 文選). Two reliable English translations exist:
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Notes
References
Footnotes
Works cited
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mi, Heng
Cao Cao and associates
Liu Biao and associates
173 births
198 deaths
Writers from Dezhou
Executed Han dynasty people
People executed by the Han dynasty
Han dynasty poets
Poets from Shandong
2nd-century executions
Executed people from Shandong
Deified Chinese people